First Vatican Council

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First Vatican Council 1869–70, the 20th ecumenical council of the Roman Catholic Church (see council, ecumenical ), renowned chiefly for its enunciation of the doctrine of papal infallibility .

Convening and Meetings

The council was convened by Pope Pius IX , who announced his intention in 1864. Because of the Italian political situation (the Papal States were the only bar to a united Italy), the advisability of having a council at all was questioned by the Catholic powers, who traditionally opposed strong action on the part of the church. In 1868 it was widely rumored in Europe that the enunciation of papal infallibility as a dogma was the purpose of the council and that it would confirm the papal denunciations of modernistic rationalism and liberalism. As a result there was a widespread attack on the prospective council in non-Catholic circles of France, Great Britain, and Germany. Within the church several prominent persons denounced the enunciation of infallibility as a dogma. Chief of these were Johann Joseph Ignaz von Döllinger in Germany, Lord Acton in England, and the comte de Montalembert in France.

The council was convened Dec. 8, 1869, in St. Peter's, and it was attended by some 600 of the higher clergy (patriarchs, archbishops, bishops, abbots, generals of orders, and theologians) from all over the world. The Eastern Churches in schism were invited, and the Protestants were officially informed. Late in 1870 the council was brought to a halt by the entrance of Italian soliders into Rome, and a month later the pope prorogued the council indefinitely; it was never reconvened.

Constitutions of Faith and Infallibility

Two constitutions were promulgated by the Vatican Council and confirmed by the pope. The first was on the faith, consisting of four chapters holding chiefly that God is personal, that man knows God by reason and revelation, that faith is a supernatural virtue, and that faith and reason are complementary, never contradictory. The second constitution concerned the papacy; after defining the primacy of papal jurisdiction it goes on to enounce definitively the dogma of infallibility. This, the one official statement of the doctrine, reads in its significant part as follows: "The Roman pontiff when he speaks ex cathedra, that is, when he, in the exercise of his office of his supreme apostolic authority, decides that a doctrine concerning faith or morals is to be held by the entire Church, he possesses, in consequence of the divine aid promised him in St. Peter, that infallibility which the Divine Savior wished to have His Church furnished for the definition of doctrines concerning faith or morals; and that definitions of the Roman pontiff are of themselves, and not in consequence of the Church's consent, irreformable." Past definitions are included in the statement.

In the council there was a long dispute over the enunciation. In the first vote it stood 451 in favor, 88 opposed, and 62 conditionally in favor; at the last vote 433 were in favor of the promulgation, two opposing, 55 abstaining. All the fathers of the council accepted the dogma as true. After the council a great deal of discussion of infallibility took place among non-Catholics; violent attacks were made on the pope, the church, and the council. Within the church the papal infallibility had been generally believed for many centuries. A few groups departed from the church. The most important was the Old Catholics in Germany, under Döllinger; in France a small group headed by Père Hyacinthe (Charles Loyson ) also seceded. The political results were numerous: Otto von Bismarck gave the definition as the reason for the Kulturkampf , and Austria used it as an excuse to abrogate its concordat with the Holy See. The French government denounced it in a memorandum, which was acceded to by Britain, Spain, and Portugal. The anger of the states reflected the chief political effect of the enunciation of papal infallibility: since the doctrine made Gallicanism and similar claims obsolete, governments could no longer use them to interfere in church affairs.

Bibliography

See E. C. Butler, The Vatican Council, 1869–1870 (1930, repr. 1962); A. Ryan, ed., Newman and Gladstone: The Vatican Decrees (1962).

Vatican Council, First (1869–70), reckoned by RCs the 20th Oecumenical Council. Convoked by Pius IX in 1868, it was intended to deal with a wide variety of subjects. It opened in Dec. 1869 and began by discussing the schema ‘De Fide’. A revised constitution on Faith, ‘Dei Filius’, was promulgated on 24 Apr. 1870. It contains four chapters on God the Creator, on Revelation, on Faith, and on Faith and Reason. It was decided to turn next to the questions of Papal infallibility and the primacy of the Pope. In the debate on the primacy the minority particularly objected to the definition of the Pope's jurisdiction as ordinary, immediate, and truly episcopal. They also tried to get his infallibility linked more closely with that of the Church. The constitution ‘Pastor Aeternus’, accepted on 18 July, disappointed the extremists on both sides. It clearly stated the infallibility of the Pope, but restricted it to those occasions when, speaking ex cathedra, he defines a doctrine regarding faith or morals. The outbreak of war between France and Prussia on 19 July and the Italian occupation of Rome brought the Council to an end.

The definitions of the Council aroused serious opposition only in Germany and Austria. In these countries small minorities organized themselves as ‘Old Catholics’, and in Germany Bismarck's opposition to the consolidation of Papal power issued in the Kulturkampf.

Vatican Council, First, or Vatican I (1869–70). A Roman Catholic council. Called by Pope Pius IX. This council adopted only two constitutions, despite the advance preparation of fifty-one schemata. The constitution on faith, Dei Filius, dealt with God as creator, revelation, faith, and faith's relationship to reason, adopting positions similar to those of St Thomas Aquinas. The schema on the Church was not voted on; instead, the question of the papacy was brought forward, although many (e.g. J. H. Newman) regarded this as inopportune. The constitution Pastor Aeternus defined the primacy of the pope and also his infallibility when he speaks ex cathedra, i.e. when as chief pastor of the Church he defines a doctrine on faith or morals to be held by the whole Church.

After Italian troops occupied Rome, the Council was suspended in Oct. 1870. It never reconvened, and the incompleteness of its work led to a serious imbalance in RC Church teaching.

Vatican Council, First (1869–70) Twentieth ecumenical council of the Roman Catholic Church. Convened by Pope Pius IX to refute various contemporary ideas associated with the rise of liberalism and materialism, it is chiefly remembered for its declaration of papal infallibility.